My dad, bless his soul, smoked big, fat cigars.  I was his sidekick and went where he went.  One of these places was the gas station.  He smoked that big, fat cigar while filling the car with gas and filling red gas cans for the boat and lawnmower with gas.  He ignored the “NO SMOKING”… Continue reading Giving It The Gass

We have lived in several homes in three states.  Not all moves were smooth.  When we had sold one home and purchased another at times we were forced to rent an apartment.  We are in a rented condominium right now and today received an irritating memo regarding a patch of cheap vinyl siding off our… Continue reading Rental Woes

One day I heard a sound I never want to hear again.   I was all alone, a rarity.  I had spread myself on the bed in a general starfish shape on top of the bedspread.   The house was clean.  The kids were in school, and my husband was at work.  I was feeling… Continue reading Third Hand

It was early on a sunny summer week day.  My husband was going to work.  He always pushed the bubble on the space/time continuum.  The screen door on the garage gave me a visual on the driveway when the garage door was open for business.  Our children were young and were milling about in various… Continue reading Hit and Run

My husband won’t eat eggs.  However, he awoke this morning determined to hard boil a dozen eggs.  He looked up the “recipe” on Google and began the process.  Unfortunately the timer went off as he headed to the bedroom to breakup a cat fight.  I skated my way into the kitchen and took the eggs… Continue reading Hard Boiled

As many know, I taught kindergarten.  I brought in dozens of raw eggs into the classroom.  The goal was to make an Easter egg tree or two. Each child had an egg or four.  I poked holes on each end of each egg…64 and more of them.  I wiped each egg and showed the kids… Continue reading Easter Egg Blowout

Our youngest son, our heart of hearts, moved to the west coast.  We live in Michigan.  I still get emotional about all of our kids around birthdays and holidays of any kind.  My husband and I shopped around for things we liked.  I had a miserable cold in February.  My throat, ears, and head ached.… Continue reading Mail Order Flu

Doorbell!  Oh, it happened once or more.  But, it always happened on days like today when my hair is sleep wrinkled and I am not dressed for the day as I should be and it is afternoon.  Orange juice dripped from the kitchen counter, and cheerios from the kids’ breakfasts were cemented on the table… Continue reading Ding Dong

     I taught Kindergarten, and one little boy started to orbit around me for a few weeks. I didn’t mind, but I was crabby.  I thought P.M.S. was the issue.  I had all the symptoms.  I was a busy bee, with 28 kids in my class and three of my own at home, the… Continue reading Surprise

I am the mother of four.  They are all adults and are scattered like dandelion fluff all over.  One in in Ohio, the closest one.  Two are in Los Angeles, in film.  The youngest is engaged to a wonderful Canadian man and I am talking about grizzly bear country, mountain lions, and moose.  I stayed… Continue reading Say Cheese!